Occupation: I am a hair stylist at Above All Style in Bethel. I have been a hair stylist for 27 years. I enjoy doing all aspects of hair and makeup. I also have a friend who is a photographer in Westport, and I do a lot of photo shoots with her. I'll do hair and makeup for her clients coming in the studio for headshots, which is a lot of fun.

Family: I have two wonderful children. I have a son, Brandon, who just graduated high school. He's 18 and going off to college in just over a month. He is headed to Virginia to Liberty University. I have a 14-year-old daughter, Amanda. She is starting high school, and she is an advid dancer. She has been dancing at Dance Etc for ten years and has been on the dance team for seven years there. Being a single mom and running my own business is tough, but it is worth it; they are worth it.

Pets: We have five pets: three cats and two dogs. The cats are Lucky Starr, Pumpkin, and Midnight. The two dogs are Bear and Odin. They're a handful.

How long have you lived in Newtown? Twenty-one years. My ex-husband and I moved down here shortly after we got married. We rented a house over by the Botsford Fire Station. We had mutual friends who lived here and they told us it is such a great town. Then we bought a house over in Sandy Hook about 17 years ago.

What do you like to do in your free time? Sitting around having a cup of coffee with my friends and talking. I love being able to go to the beach with the kids and hangout there. I help out and assistant teach at the dance studio a couple mornings a week, too.

Do you have a favorite book? My all time favorite book, that I have read multiple times, is The Stand by Stephen King. I have read the initial published version three times, then the unabridged version twice. It is one of those books that I read if I'm really bored.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? Anywhere that involves a beach! I'm a beach person; that's my happy place. For years my family would go up to Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Then when I was a teenager, my grandparents started renting a place in Seabrook, N.H. My parents and I would go spend two weeks with them there. Even after I got married and the kids were born, we would go up there.

What is the best thing about Newtown? There are a lot of really great things. As much as it is a big town, there is still that close-knit community feel. I grew up in a small town in Connecticut and there was a lot of community support and family-type feel. I feel that way about Newtown. There is not even six degrees of separation here, it's more like one or two. There is always someone you can reach out to and get support from.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? My dad. He passed away a few years ago of cancer. He was a very strong man, very quiet, very dedicated. A loving man. Very supportive. Even if he didn't say something, I knew what he was thinking. He was a great man. It's always hard to lose a parent, so it makes it even harder when you see your own kids going through it, too.

If you could spend a day with anyone, who would you choose? One of my all time favorite movies is Gorillas in the Mist with Dian Fossey. She was one of the first people who ever spent a significant amount time in the rainforrest with gorillas. I would have loved to be with her for even one day, because I love gorillas. Seeing the interaction that she had with them was really cool.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? Starbucks, that's my guilty pleasure. I'm an avid fan of the caramel macchiato.